Brooklyn LobsterProduction Notes

The
inspiration for Brooklyn Lobster, starring Danny Aiello and Jane
Curtin, came from Jordan's Lobster Dock in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Writer/director
Kevin Jordan wanted to bring the story of his family's lobster shop to
life on the big screen. His grandfather, known as "the lobster king
of New York," started the business back in 1938 on Bleecker Street
in Manhattan and then moved it to Brooklyn. He was the first to air-ship
lobsters packed in barrels of seaweed and is responsible for the glass
lobster tanks found in local supermarkets today. The feature film loosely
portrays Jordan's own family's struggle to keep their business afloat
after a bank defaulted on the loan intended to help them build a restaurant
extension. After a five-year court battle to hold on to the Brooklyn landmark,
Jordan's Lobster Dock now faces foreclosure this fall.

Jordan teamed up
with his brothers Darren and Brian to create a ten-minute documentary
on their family's shop to stir interest and raise funds for the narrative
feature. After a screening and lobster party, sufficient funding was secured
to start production. Casting director Phyllis Huffman (Million Dollar
Baby, Mystic River) was the first to join the team. She got the script
to Danny Aiello, who signed on immediately, and Jane Curtin soon joined
the cast to play opposite him. The film was shot in less than five weeks
on location in Brooklyn as well as in Manhattan and Long Island. It focuses
primarily on Frank Giorgio, played by Aiello, the stubborn, good-hearted,
blue-collar owner of Giorgio's Lobster Farm, and how he deals with the
impending foreclosure on the small, shaker-shingled lobster shop he inherited
from his father. Although Frank refuses help, his family members also
want to save the business that has always been a cornerstone of their
lives-but the underlying story is really about their relationships with
one another, especially Frank and Maureen (Curtin), whose marriage
is coming to a quiet, matter-of-fact end, and Frank and their son Michael
(Daniel Sauli), who is visiting for the holidays but reluctant
to return full time to lobster land and his father's obstinacy. The film
explores the complicated dynamics of family relations, marked with drama
and humor, as the Giorgios face their greatest challenge yet.